Vauxhall Tigra 1.6 16v Review

Overall Rating

Looks, girls luv it. Corsa interia, no rust.

Ecotec engine, performance, heavy car, not as strong as some older cheaper cars. Space in back, set to high up. Can be very expensive in repairs, handling.

I had a R-reg 1.6 16v tigra and it had to be the worst car I ever owned. The only good thing was the fact girls loved it and seemed to think I was rich because I owned one. After steping from a 1.1 punto 55 the performance was very good 132mph easy but the needle is in the red. But compared to other 1.6 16v cars it ain't really that quick, its top end speed may hold a few off but 0-60 it's slow 9.5 secs this is due to the cars wieght which if you didn't know is heavyer than a MK3 Golf vr6. Yes it is true, I found this out in one of Vauxhall's own styling books. The car is also underpowered aswell due to all the weight. It uses the same 1.6 ecotec found in the Corsa GSI only 104bhp. This is not enough for the GSI so it should of been tuned up a bit more for the Tigra. I fitted a k&n to mine and that made a extra 3 bhp also a sportex 3inch backbox which gained a very good 2bhp you notice the difference. I did race and leave a few cars in it Golf mk3 1.8 100bhp
Nova gte
Tigra 1.4 130bhp
Escort xr3 8v mk2
Fiesta xr2 8v mk2
Astra 1.8 16v mk4
Corsa 1.6 16v sport

After a month or so things started to go wrong, the engine management light would switch on the car would lose power. The dealers found pieces of metal flying around inside the engine so the engine was striped and repaired under waranty. A week later it happened again so was repaired once again. I took the filter of and put the original air intake back on but the problem kept coming up. The cat then went and had to be replaced under waranty. The car would run all the way to 100mph in 2nd gear if you wanted to. I got annoyed and one day gave it a hard long rev and the exhaust made a big bang and the car was running fine and the engine management light never came on again. If I had bought this car private I would of had to fork out almost 2grand in repairing the engine each time it had to be rebuilt and I only owned the car for 6months. Ecotec 1.4 1.6 are not very good engines and not easy to work on and sufer valve problems as well as the problems I had. I am glad I have got rid of it now. If you want a Tigra with performance get a crx 1.6 vti 160bhp and it's more reliable.

Members' Comments onspliff1star's Review

• muppetlover on 8th Feb 2005

  What did you expect to happen if you try to drive 100mph in 2nd? That's what the other gears are for :)

• spliff1star on 12th May 2005

  If youread the comment correctly it says that the engine was wrecked before that. Obviously I can't drive the car all the way to 100mph in 2nd gear or the car would rev out at 60mph.i was saying the engine had a problem and would allow me to drive to 100mph in 2nd. Please can you read my article before incorrectly commenting.

• MikeTheSwede on 26th Jul 2005

  When reading your review its more than obvious that you have been using your car as a "racecar". If so, you cant expect the engine, clutch, brakes and so on to maintain its good performance for as long as the person that drive the car careful and responsibly. I think your review is a bit questionable, to say the least. I mean, its not a formula one Ferrari we are talking about, is it?

• spliff1star on 28th Jul 2005

  the car cost 5grand and within a few weeks needed two major engine jobs costing £1000s. this was before i use to push the car.are you goin to go out and buy a sporty car and drive it around at 30mph and just 70mph on the motorway???? i dont fink so.the car is there to be driven and if you pay 5grand for a car that has more problems than a 500 quid nova has are you goin to be happy.i do drive fast and the tigra was about 2years ago and i am way above that in terms of performance and quality.the tigra had all these problems before i started to push the car hard and it was from the main deallers one owner full history.only one problem occured after i started to push the car.so i will write wot ever i want about the car because i experienced it.so i dont care what other people fink about my review.its the truth!! the new tigra is by far a better car and can see its built to last.my friends girlfriends just bought a p reg tigra and shes having alot of problems with that.i still like tigras but most of them are doogy.